Event Details

On 15 February 2013, a rock from space exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, injuring over 1500 people and making headline news worldwide. On the same day, a larger piece of space debris, the asteroid known as 2012 DA14, missed our planet by less than 30,000 kilometres – an incredible near miss. These events are a stark reminder of the threat posed to Earth by ‘rocks from space’. In this talk, astronomer Dr Jonti Horner explains where the different groups of threatening objects come from and traces their story back to the formation of the solar system. Dr Horner will also discuss the threat they pose to the Earth, and the other planets in the solar system.

About the Speaker: Dr. Jonti Horner is an astronomer who currently works in the Department of Astrophysics and Optics, in the University of New South Wales. He arrived in Australia from Oxford University in October 2010 to work in the exoplanet group, spending part of his time looking for planets around other stars! He also carries out theoretical research into the origin and evolution of the small bodies in our Solar system - objects such as comets, asteroids, and meteoroids and is also involved in projects examining the formation of planets around other stars, and looking into the nature of habitability on the Earth and beyond.